Contact Center Solutions Industry News

[February 01, 2013]

Ledger Group to hire for new call center at Lakeland office

WINTER HAVEN, Feb 01, 2013 (The Ledger - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --
The Ledger Media Group next week will begin accepting applications for 10 positions at its new Lakeland-based customer call center, which will start up April 8.

"We are eager to bring this very important work back to Lakeland and thrilled to be adding jobs back to our local economy," said Jerome Ferson, publisher of The Ledger, the News Chief and sister publications. "This is a big step within a multifaceted plan to continuously improve our consumer experience."
The call center will operate out of the Lakeland office at 300 W. Lime St. and field calls from subscribers to all Ledger Media Group products, said Graham Annett, director of consumer marketing who oversees the circulation department.

"We have listened to our current customers, and we're certain this is going to improve our customers' experience," Annett said.

The Ledger Media Group will continue to use a call center provided by Illinois-based APAC Customer Services Inc. that directs callers to its center in Manila, the Philippines, until the April transition, he said. The company hired APAC as a part of a cost-cutting program about five years ago, when the Media Group was owned by The New York Times.

Halifax Media Group purchased the New York Times Regional Newspapers in January 2012.

The Ledger Media Group call center will employ four full-time staff members and six part-time workers, Annett said. They will undergo extensive training for several weeks before the April 8 startup.

The company is looking for people with great customer service skills, including the ability to articulate on the telephone and show sensitivity to customers' issues, he said.

The new call center will retain the same circulation phone numbers: 863-802-7323 for local calls and the toll-free line at 888-431-7323.

The new call center will continue to take calls beginning at 6 a.m. Mondays to Saturdays and 6:30 a.m. on Sundays, Annett said, but it will close in the early afternoon. The APAC center, which handles circulation calls from other newspapers, closes at 5 p.m. daily.